STUDENT Success Stories
LCBC Student Mohammad Hassan Rezaee
Hassan Rezaee and his wife, Laea, were part of a group of Afghan refugees sent by Canopy Resettlement a year ago to begin English classes at the Literacy Council of Benton County. Hassan, 24 years old, possessed a nursing degree and appeared to be one of the more educated students in the group. This was apparent immediately.
One other student in the group of six had a college diploma. Two students had sixth grade educations in Afghanistan, and two older students had had no education at all, not even in Dari, their own language. Being the only male in the group, Hassan adapted his cultural, traditional “leader” role. Since all the students wanted to get their driver’s license, he took it upon himself to translate the Arkansas driver’s manual into Farsi.
Hassan’s tutor, Lisa Alexander, discussed translations with students, used a cardboard mockup of a dashboard, and with the help of the “Say Hi” app, was able to translate manual vocabulary from English into Farsi, then back into English. She used videos on a monitor to further explain vocabulary he and his classmates would need to know on the test.
Alexander was shocked that Hassan received his driver’s license within a few weeks. His success was instrumental in getting the class prepared to study and all of them have their permits.
Hassan and several of his fellow students were hired at a local restaurant and he was able to get his license and save enough money to buy a car. His wife, Laea, gave birth to a baby girl in May and Hassan wanted a better job for his family.
“Now with the car, I can drive for better pay work,” Hassan says, now working at George’s Poultry in Springdale. But being only one of a few Afghans in the Bentonville community with transportation, Hassan is relied upon to transport several of his classmates. “Some older women have no men to care for them, so I help them.”
Although Hassan has met several of his goals, he would still like to learn English well enough to go to university and get a nursing degree so he can work in as a nurse in America. When considering his daughter’s future, he would like her to go to school in America and get as much education as she can so she can become a doctor or an engineer or whatever she wants to be. Considering his own future goals, Hassan would like to gain “citizenship, have a good job and buy a nice home.”
Hassan Rezaee and his wife, Laea, were part of a group of Afghan refugees sent by Canopy Resettlement a year ago to begin English classes at the Literacy Council of Benton County. Hassan, 24 years old, possessed a nursing degree and appeared to be one of the more educated students in the group. This was apparent immediately.
One other student in the group of six had a college diploma. Two students had sixth grade educations in Afghanistan, and two older students had had no education at all, not even in Dari, their own language. Being the only male in the group, Hassan adapted his cultural, traditional “leader” role. Since all the students wanted to get their driver’s license, he took it upon himself to translate the Arkansas driver’s manual into Farsi.
Hassan’s tutor, Lisa Alexander, discussed translations with students, used a cardboard mockup of a dashboard, and with the help of the “Say Hi” app, was able to translate manual vocabulary from English into Farsi, then back into English. She used videos on a monitor to further explain vocabulary he and his classmates would need to know on the test.
Alexander was shocked that Hassan received his driver’s license within a few weeks. His success was instrumental in getting the class prepared to study and all of them have their permits.
Hassan and several of his fellow students were hired at a local restaurant and he was able to get his license and save enough money to buy a car. His wife, Laea, gave birth to a baby girl in May and Hassan wanted a better job for his family.
“Now with the car, I can drive for better pay work,” Hassan says, now working at George’s Poultry in Springdale. But being only one of a few Afghans in the Bentonville community with transportation, Hassan is relied upon to transport several of his classmates. “Some older women have no men to care for them, so I help them.”
Although Hassan has met several of his goals, he would still like to learn English well enough to go to university and get a nursing degree so he can work in as a nurse in America. When considering his daughter’s future, he would like her to go to school in America and get as much education as she can so she can become a doctor or an engineer or whatever she wants to be. Considering his own future goals, Hassan would like to gain “citizenship, have a good job and buy a nice home.”